Danganronpa: Kingdom of Hope and Despair (SYOC)
by Agrael
Summary: Long before Junko caused the world to fall into despair, stood a proud Kingdom of Novoselic. But a great tragedy befell the country; The plague of Black Death. 16 young students find themselves locked in a Novoselic castle emptied by the plague. They have no idea that they're gonna be forced to participate in a game of life and death. Takes place during the XIV century. (CLOSED)
1. Introduction and Rules

Long before Junko Enoshima caused the world to fall into despair, stood a proud Kingdom of Novoselic, ruled by the benevolent dynasty of Neverminds. Their country, though small and seemingly insignificant, had a blossoming economy, mainly due to wealthy travelers from the Far East who began to live in the kingdom's borders, building houses and spreading their culture. For a while, there were more Japanese and Chinese people living here than the Novoselics themselves! But it wasn't always so calm and peaceful.

A great tragedy struck Europe - The Black Death, a hellish plague killing thousands on its way. It didn't avoid the Novoselic Kingdom and a lot of people died there too. Short before the plague struck the kingdom, sixteen individuals received letters from the king who offered shelter from the disease in the castle. He later called those people Elites - young students who possessed great talent, who would become the country's hope after the plague passes the kingdom. Later, the king announced that he's gonna close the castle's gates, secluding the court from outside, letting only the royal family and the finest citizens (including the Elites) stay in the keep's safe walls.

The court lived in seclusion until one fateful day. An unknown evil mastermind opened the castle's gates, which caused a mass of infected commonfolk to storm inside, passing the sickness onto others. People started dying one by one.

But the mastermind didn't die with them. After letting the infected in, they closed the castle's gates again and hid in a secluded fragment of the keep...along with the sixteen Elites. Yes, the mastermind saved them and then began to wait for everyone else in the building to die out...

One day, the Elite students woke up with no memory of the past few years. They found themselves in a fancy castle, which was surprisingly pretty empty. There was no one else there but them. They quickly found out that the castle was locked tight and had no idea how to open the gate. They didn't know that soon they would participate in a game of life and death, where every decision could be their last. And the mastermind waited patiently, smiling and observing, shadows surrounding them...

Puhuhuhu~!

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hello there, people! I am Agrael and this is my first fic on this site, but not my first fanfic ever and not the first SYOC either. I know how it works, buuut this is my first Danganronpa SYOC. I hope the prologue interested you enough. Yes, this fanfic is gonna take place in the Novoselic Kingdom during the 14th century, when Black Death rampaged Europe. I hope the setting made everything unique enough!**

 **This SYOC was inspired by many others on this website, I won't say which ones exactly but you might guess which ones during the class trials ;)**

 **The rules:**

 **1\. No Mary Sue's, Gary Stu's or (oh the irony) Sonia Nevermind's. All in all, no perfect characters or unredeemable jerks. I want your characters to be as gray as possible - having both bad and good traits!**

 **2\. Please send your application forms through PM rather than the reviews. It's because I want one of your characters to be a traitor and if you sent your submissions through reviews, the readers will expect who to suspect as traitor since I'm gonna directly ask whether you want your character to be a traitor or not. Oh, you can send two characters at max and it's possible for them to be siblings.  
**

 **3\. Since this story takes place in the XIV century (no joke!), please have your characters' ultimate talents medieval-themed. This means I won't accept Ultimate Pilots, Bloggers etc. and would prefer talents such as Ultimate Knights, Diplomats etc. I'm counting on your imagination on this one. The same goes with characters' appearance. No headphones or other gadgets. Be as medieval as possible.**

 **4\. Ultimate Queens and Kings are not allowed, but princes and princesses are.**

 **5\. I accept Novoselic (Novoselic = Russian, since the name Sonia gives me a Russian vibe), Japanese or Chinese ethnicities.**

 **6\. I will need 7 boys and 8 girls. One boy will be my own OC but you'll never know which one it is!**

 **7\. The copy-paste version of the application form is in my bio!**

 **8\. Please put the characters' first name first. I played the games when localized by NIS America on English audio, so I'm not used to having last names first.  
**

 **9\. My character won't be the protagonist, so I'll give you a chance to have your character as one, but have in mind that protagonists are way more likely to be survivors than killers or victims.**

 **10\. Last but not least, I will accept characters based on how interesting they are and not on how quick you were. I think it'll be the most fair.**

 **Application form:**

 _ **Name:**_

 _ **Age (16-19):**_

 _ **Elite Talent (This SYOC's version of Ultimate):**_

 _ **Why's that their Elite Talent? (Basically an explanation of their abilities):**_

 _ **Sexuality (This is an alternative past, so homosexuals, bisexuals and transes are allowed):**_

 _ **Height:**_

 _ **Weight:**_

 _ **Ethnicity (Novoselic/Japanese/Chinese):**_

 _ **Appearance (Be as descriptive as possible, remember it must be medieval-themed):**_

 _ **Personality (The most important section, also be as descriptive as possible):**_

 _ **Character's history (The second most important section, be as descriptive as possible):**_

 _ **Would you like your character to be killed, killer or survivor? (Might not be 100% accurate):**_

 _ **Would you like your character to be The Traitor? (The traitor is someone working with the mastermind against the rest of the group):**_

 _ **Would you like your character to be Main Character? (My OC won't be the protagonist, so I'll pick one of yours, but have in mind that the MC will more likely be a survivor, not killer or victim):**_

 _ **What would motivate them to kill?:**_

 _ **Execution (Optional, you don't need to write it yourself, but you can give me hints as to what elements I could use, or leave it blank and resort to my own twisted imagination):**_

 _ **Romance (Would your character be interested in an eventual romance?):**_

 _ **People your character would like:**_

 _ **People your character would dislike:**_

 _ **Role in investigations:**_

 _ **Role during trials:**_

 _ **Secrets (If any):**_

 _ **Sample dialogue (Optional):**_

 _ **Other:**_

 **(Tip: If you're running out of space in the PM, you can go ahead and delete the tips in brackets, I won't mind :P)**

 **That is all! I'll be waiting for your OCs. The next chapter will be a list of accepted students. Stay tuned and thanks for all your submissions in advance!**

 **SYOC IS NOW CLOSED**

 **THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUBMISSIONS**


	2. Characters

**Accepted Characters**

 **This is where the list of accepted characters is located. The list itself is gonna be updated after closing the SYOC, since one of the students is my own character and I wouldn't want you to know which one. But I'm going to inform you how much more characters I'll need :)**

 **[UPDATE 1 26/03/2017]: Thanks for all of your submissions so far! I've got 7 characters sent in (Sent in, not accepted! You still have plenty of time to send in your creations!) and I couldn't be more happy, seeing all of you interested in this fanfic. I will try to make this as unique as possible without losing the Danganronpa feel to it. Remember that this list is going to be updated after all characters are accepted! If you want, you can send in two characters - two is the maximum, after all! I'll be waiting for more of your amazing OCs. Peace!**

 **[UPDATE 2 27/03/2017]: Wow, guys. I still can't believe how many awesome submission** **s** **we've gotten! And we're almost ready for a close, but not just yet. Why? Well, to be frank, I need more girls :P I've gotten a very large amount of boys and I have to stop accepting them anymore. Any possible newcomers who still want to join in, please send female characters only. Any of you guys who submitted only a single character, feel free to send me another one - a girl, of course. Peace!**

 **[UPDATE 3 27/03/2017]: I have now enough characters to finally close the SYOC and start the story itself. I'm really sorry for all characters that couldn't make it, they were all amazing, but I've picked those I felt fit into the story the most. Now it's time to update the list so you can finally see all the names. I didn't put the authors in because as I said one of the OCs is mine and I wouldn't want you to figure out which one ;) Everyone's gonna get credited at the end of the fanfic. Well, with that, _SYOC CLOSED._**

 **ELITE STUDENTS:**

 **BOYS:**

 **1\. Wren Ignatius - Elite Epidemologist  
**

 **2\. Ryōshi Ketsueki - Elite Executioner  
**

 **3\. Seiji Nakajo - Elite Samurai  
**

 **4\. Braeden Boyce - Elite Carpenter  
**

 **5\. Ren Gishi - Elite Lute Player  
**

 **6\. Spartak Borisov - Elite Demonologist  
**

 **7\. Jaune Poyezdka - Elite Puppeteer  
**

 **8\. Yasushi Kakoji - Elite Spy  
**

 **GIRLS:**

 **1\. Diana Valeriya - Elite Hostess  
**

 **2\. Katyusha Alexei - Elite Archer  
**

 **3\. Aya Fukui - Elite Taster  
**

 **4\. Kinsey Amit Cantrell - Elite Merchant  
**

 **5\. Amiletta "Amy" Springett - Elite Musician  
**

 **6\. Hisoka Komadori - Elite Thief  
**

 **7\. Arare Beika - Elite Baker  
**

 **8\. Cordelia Bennett - Elite Apothecarist  
**


	3. Prologue, Part 1

_PROLOGUE: W_ _ALK YOUR WAY THROUGH THE HALLS OF DESPAIR_

* * *

Every story has a beginning.

My story begins as I was nearing the capital city of the Novoselic Kingdom on my trusted mare, Leda. I've been here before, though it was so long ago that I forgot how it looked. It was rather impressive, at least for me. Busy streets, huge buildings, a marketplace, a beautiful castle in the middle...It had everything a capital city needed. I sighed. _Now's not the time to be reminiscing,_ I thought. I looked at the crumpled piece of paper in my hand. It was a letter from the King himself, an offer of shelter against the upcoming plague. I've read it a few times already, I'm not even sure why. Maybe because this invitation changed everything. Whether it was for worse or for the better, I still don't know to this day.

" _Lady Fukui,_

 _You have been accepted into a group of talented young individuals known as The Elites and shall be known as Elite Taster. The Elites will become the beacon of hope of our kingdom in those hard times and will help rebuild the society once the upcoming plague of Black Death passes us. As such, I am inviting You to the Nevermind Castle in the capital city, where You willl be offered professional protection against the disease and a place to live in. Please consider it thoroughly,_

 _Stepan II Nevermind_  
 _King of Novoselic_ "

At first, I was surprised by the letter and highly considered refusing and never going to see the king. I didn't want this. But... Certain circumstances changed my mind completely and here I am now, nearing the royal castle. I rode Leda into the royal stables. I met a boy who was working there and asked him if I could leave my horse here. He nodded, saying he'll take good care of her. Well, I had no doubts about that. I grabbed my bags and gave the mare a goodbye pat on the head. After all, I didn't know when I'll see her again and I grew quite attached to her. I sighed again and left.

I accidentally tripped near the front gate of the castle, dropping my bags. I slightly hurt my arm, but it was nothing serious. _What a great start,_ I thought. It was difficult to walk with my condition. My legs are weak, shaky and generally not too great, I also tend to drag my right foot behind so most of the time I need a walking cane or something similar. Of course I did have a cane with me then. I assume I fell because I didn't know my bags were this heavy until I had to carry them for such a distance. I've taken only the most necessary things like clothes for spare or mementos from my _past life_ that I would never abandon. Anyway, while laying on the floor, I looked at the entrance gate of the castle and I just realized that the way I was living until now would change. I guess I haven't thought about it that much before. But I was ready. I was ready for whatever awaited me inside. I swept sweat from my forehead with a swift move, collected my bags and with the support of my walking cane, I stepped inside the castle.

The main hall was big and beautiful. I stopped for a moment to look around. In the middle was a giant fountain with a sculpture of a dolphin made from what I assume was marble. Near the walls were benches for people to sit on and even single bookcases. Here and there stood statues of King Stepan II. All around were entrances to different chambers and wings of the castle, along with stairs leading upwards, leading into the upper floor of the hall, where there were more rooms. _Maybe living here won't be so bad,_ I thought. But I felt something was wrong. The hall was completely empty. I didn't see nor hear anyone. _Since I arrived three weeks after receiving the letter, this place should be filled with people. Why is it not so, then?_

I instantly thought something was off. I felt uneasy and then I began to feel lightheaded. I grabbed my forehead, I had a cold sweat and I had trouble standing up. "What's...going on...", I muttered out loud. My vision began to play tricks on me and after a while I couldn't see properly. This would sometimes happen if I was given hallucinogenic herbs. But the last time I ate was back at Manor Vorona and nobody would try to poison me since Mikhail... _Mikhail..._ With a single tear stuck in my eye, I passed out, unconscious.

 _"WhAt...Is...HaPpEnInG...?"_

 _"HeLp...SoMeBoDy...PlEaSe HeLp..."_

 _"SoMeOnE...oPeNeD...tHe GaTeS..."_

 _"AAAAHHH...! I dOn'T wAnT tO dIe...!"_

I woke up later in a bed in a chamber I've never seen before in my life. I was sweating. Was this all a dream? Why did I hear some muffled voices of people screaming in my head? I was so confused, I thought I've finally gone insane. I looked at my surroundings. I was in a common bedroom. The bed I've been laying on wasn't as comfortable as the one back home, but it was alright. In a corner of the room stood a wardrobe. I got up from the bed and opened it. All my spare clothes that I previously had in the bags hanged inside - my tunics, trousers, pairs of socks - they were all there. On a coat hanger near the door hanged a long, black cloak with a velvet-type deep red material as the inner layer. It had a big, golden button which was used to secure the cloak around your neck. It was decorated in a pattern that consists of a symbol of a large crow's feather slightly overlapping an eye, picked out in silver thread and repeating itself all along the hemline on the outside. I recognized it immediately. _The Voronin family crest,_ I thought out loud. _So it's the traveling cloak I've been wearing when I entered the castle._ I looked around further.

At the opposite side of the bed, near the wall, stood a simple wooden table and a chair. On the top of the table stood a single unlit candle, a jar of ink and some paper to write on and a few books which I assume were taken from the bookcase standing right next to the table. Then near the back wall stood a small, wooden screen. I looked behind it and I saw a mirror and a chamber pot. _This is where I can change my outfit and do my business._ I decided to look in the mirror, making sure nothing changed.

I still had my long, straight black hair with a hime-cut fringe, tied up into a slightly messy bun simply held in place with an ornate mother-of-pearl hairpin carved with swirling spiral patterns. My skin was paler than it usually is, although that's probably because of all the emotions I've been experiencing. I still had those almond-shaped, mostly royal-blue (though there were hints of other shades of blue and several specks of gold in them) eyes framed by long, thin and spidery black eyelashes, slightly pointed ears and a serious expression on my face. I was wearing a beige half-sleeved tunic with a wide square neckline of mid-thigh length, with a sash that is essentialy an obi of a kimono, with two layers and a yellow cord, tied back with a bow, its trailing ends tucked back up into the obi so they don't get caught anywhere, made out of a blue material decorated in an ocean pattern. I was also wearing black leggins, wooden sandals and a pair of white socks. _Good,_ I thought. _Not much has changed. But where am I? How much time has passed?_

I sighed loudly and sat on the bad. _Am I going insane?,_ I've been asking myself, _What's happening?! Nonono...Calm down...I'm still Aya Fukui. I'm the Elite Taster, or that's what I was supposed to be known as. My job is to taste food for the aristocrats that hire me to find out whether it's poisoned or not. I...I entered the castle, and immediately started feeling awfully lightheaded and fell unconscious. But...how did I get into this bed? Was I...carried? Is someone else somewhere in here?_ The thought of someone carrying me into bed while I'm unconscious scared me, but I've decided that I won't find answers to my questions in here, so I took my walking cane (which was standing near the bed) and decided to investigate outside. I took and put on my cloak and I opened the room slowly and cautiously, and when there was nothing dangerous in sight, I stepped out.

I found myself at the upper level of the entrance hall I was in. _So I'm still inside the castle,_ I reassured myself. When I was closing the door, I noticed it had a sign attached to it. It read _"Aya"._ That probably meant it's my room, so I didn't really find anything suspicious about that. Before I reached the staircase, I passed another door with a sign on it, but this time it read _"Diana"._ It was someone else's room, but it still didn't confirm whether I was by myself here or not. All in all, there were eight signed rooms on this side and eight on the opposite side.

Anyway, I went downstairs into the lower half of the hall where the dolphin fountain was. Nothing changed here, so I decided to look somewhere else. The doors at the opposite side of the gate were sort of massive too, made out of thick wood with iron elements. Below those doors was the beginning of a red carpet made out of some elegant material. _It must be the throne room,_ I thought. _Might as well start there. Ask the king some questions if he's there._ I put my hands on the wooden surface of the doors and pushed. The doors opened up and I looked up. I didn't find the king inside...inside were fifteen other people, clearly startled by my sudden appearance. I widened my eyes in surprise, but so did they.

"I...I, uh..." I tried to say something and explain myself, but a man in an armour ran to me and before I could comprehend what's happening, he grabbed me from behind and held in a tight and uncomfortable grip.

"Who are you? Who the hell are you?", the man asked me.

"What is this blasphemy?! I thought we were the only ones in here! This means she is not one of us!" A guy with strange red eyes asked shoutingly.

"H-hey, who the hell are you supposed to be, girlie?!" Someone else shouted, I didn't even know who.

"Oh, hello. Looks like there's one more unfortunate soul who's trapped with us." A man wearing a hood commented sarcastically.

"H-Hey! Let me go! Please! I'm Aya Fukui, an Elite Taster!" I screamed, scared. They began looking at each other.

"Hey! Another Elite!" A girl in a blue dress yelled with visible excitement in her voice. "The more the merrier!"

"Well, that would explain why there were sixteen rooms", another girl said quietly. "Let go of her, Seiji. I can see she's not lying."

The man in the armour, apparently called Seiji, let go of me and I landed on my knees. My arms were a bit sore because of how tightly he was holding me down. I sighed in relief and stood up. Seiji seemed a bit embarrassed and scratched himself at the back of the head.

"I apologize, Aya-san. I reacted too quickly." He apologized with a quiet tone, bowing his head. I smiled slightly and bowed back. "You have nothing to apologize for, Seiji. I understand. It was my fault, too. I just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, so it's only natural you were suspecting me of something." He seemed to cheer up when I said that.

"Anyway, my name is Senji Nakajo and I'm the Elite Samurai. It's nice to meet you."

* * *

 **SEIJI NAKAJO**

 **ELITE SAMURAI  
**

* * *

Seiji had short dark black hair which was slightly messy on top and almond-shaped dark brown eyes, had a hawk nose, thin lips and medium-thick eyebrows and was moderately tanned. wears red samurai armor, complete with chain armor, cuirass, arm and hand guard, thigh guard, and knee guard. On his feet he had black socks and straw sandals.

"Anyway, you should introduce yourself to the rest of the group" He said. "We already exchanged introductions to each other"

I nodded. I didn't really want to know these other people, but I guess an introduction to everyone wouldn't hurt. They all seemed rather interesting. The girl in a bluss dress approached me.

"My turn! My turn!" She announced excitedly. "Hello! My name is Kinsey Amit Cantrell. I am the Elite Merchant! I hope we'll get to know each other!"

* * *

 **KINSEY AMIT CANTRELL**

 **ELITE MERCHANT**

* * *

 _Likewise,_ I answered, shaking her head.

She has mid-length dark brown hair with eyes of the same colour. She's dressed in a somewhat flamboyant blue dress and blue sandals. She gave me a big smile. "Hey, it's always nice to see another girl in here! We definitely must talk sometime! Over tea, maybe? Ooh, I'm so excited!" She kept talking. I sighed internally. "Uh, maybe?", I said bluntly, but I didn't mean for it to sound like that. "We'll see in the future"

Next was a man with red eyes from earlier, though his eyes weren't his only "unique" characteristic, as I soon would find out.

"Do you want my name? Pft. You foul humans are all the same. But I suppose I can give you what you want. I am Spartak Borisov, an Elite Demonologist, remember this name, for this name will be one day known as someone who brought demons onto this world!"

* * *

 **SPARTAK BORISOV**

 **ELITE DEMONOLOGIST**

* * *

"Aren't you a human yourself, though?" I asked, trying to sound as polite as possible. He didn't seem very pleased.

"Pffft! Typical! Of course I am. This does not mean I'm not allowed to hate other humans! You're all the same, fooled by fake propaganda, believing that demons are truly evil, while YOU are the evil ones!" Spartak shouted back, pointing his finger at me. Well, that went as well as I expected, but I didn't show how confused I was at his words.

Spartak was very thin, which revealed he doesn't eat too much. He has devilish red eyes that almost seemed to pierce through your soul when he stared at you. Already, Spartak has a brown beard to match his brown, tentacle-shaped hair. He wears a ragged black robe, with red cloth wrapped around his shoulders.

After Spartak was finished, another boy came to see me. "Hello. I am Braeden Boyce, the Elite Carpenter. It's really nice to meet you", he said with a polite tone. I shook his hand.

* * *

 **BRAEDEN BOYCE**

 **ELITE CARPENTER**

* * *

He was wearing a brown coat underneath which was a plain shirt, dark green pants and brown shoes. His brown hair is tied into a tight ponytail. He has brown eyes and a few scars on his hands. His facial features were pretty similar to Kensey's, but I brushed it off. They might've been distant family after all. I liked his polite attitude.

The next girl greeted me with a handshake. Her grasp was surprisingly tight.

"Heh. Name's Hisoka Komadori, Elite Thief. Your name's Aya, right? Welcome!" She introduced herself.

* * *

 **HISOKA KOMADORI**

 **ELITE THIEF  
**

* * *

Hisoka has an asian skin tone and dark grey eyes. She has a flat chest, which made her gender confusing at first but her facial features and her voice gave away she's a girl. She has long black hair with bangs swept to the left and tied up in a ponytail. She wears an old beige shirt, a black cloak, dark blue pants, black boots, she also has several leather belts on her and a pair of black fingerless gloves. Definitely reminds me of a thief.

"Elite Thief? That's rather... unusual." I asked, not hiding my surprise. Hisoka smirked.

"Oh, I get that a lot, don't worry. It's a long story. Anyway, if you want proof, here's a recipe for a herbal potion of some sort that Cordelia was keeping in her pocket!", she exclaimed and gave me a piece of paper. It did look like a recipe. Suddenly, the piece of paper was snatched from my hands by another girl.

"Hey! That's mine! What the devil, Hisoka? Don't steal for no reason!" She said.

"Heheh, sorry" Hisoka responded with an awkward smile on her face. "I wasn't planning on keeping it anyway. I'm a chivalrous thief!"

The girl who took the recipe rolled her eyes jokingly. "You're forgiven. I have a soft spot for chivalrous thieves", she said with a smile on her face and turned to me. "I guess I'll take this opportunity to introduce myself to you, Aya. I'm Cordelia Bennett Elite Apothecarist."

* * *

 **CORDELIA BENNETT**

 **ELITE APOTHECARIST**

* * *

She was an apothecarist, huh? I always had a hard time trusting people with vast knowledge about poisonous herbs. She seems like a good person, but she might be faking it - I'll have to watch out for her.

She has chest length black hair, oval-shaped brown eyes and a heart-shaped face. Her skin was light olive and she had a straight, slim build. She wore a long sleeved white tunic over a brown knee length skirt and boots as well as a green cloak with pockets inside it.

My eyes fell on a girl who seemed very quiet and looked like she'd rather be doing anything else right now. I understand how she felt, so I decided to introduce myself first as to get it over with.

"Greetings. My name is Aya Fukui. Will you do me the courtesy of giving your name, now I have done so for you?" I've introduced myself. She seemed caught off guard but regained her posture quickly.

"Ah! I, uhm...H-Hey, I'm Diana, Diana Valeriya, Elite Hostess. What would you like me to get you, Master?"

* * *

 **DIANA VALERIYA**

 **ELITE HOSTESS**

* * *

"Oh, I don't need anything, thank you for asking." I replied. Diana wears a gray waist length dress with a white, frilly 'bib'. She has knee high socks and tattered and worn shoes. She has waist length blonde hair and large, green eyes. She is very slim.

"V-Very well then", Diana said and moved away.

Next off was a very interesting looking...person. They were wearing a mask and I didn't know whether he was a man or a woman first. We shook hands.

"Greetings, I am Wren Ignatius, Epidemiologist, or Plague Doctor as you plebeians would call me, good day."

* * *

 **WREN IGNATIUS**

 **ELITE EPIDEMIOLOGIST**

* * *

Wren wears black robes that cover most of his body doubled with a Gray overcoat with dark blue patterns. His face is hidden behind a White porcelain Bird mask with black lenses covering the color of his eyes. He also wears black leather gloves and always has a small black book at hand. He definitely looked like a Epidemiologist. The first time I saw one, I thought he looked like a creature from a fairy tale. Anyway, now I was fairly certain he was a male. I didn't like how he called me a plebeian, but I guess that's just his nature.

After that interesting encounter, I was approached by a boy who took my hand and kissed it in a welcoming gesture.

"How are you, my lady? My name's Jaune Poyezdka, the Elite Puppeteer. Mind telling me who you are?"

* * *

 **JAUNE POYEZDKA**

 **ELITE PUPPETEER**

* * *

Jaune has shaggy black hair and a round beard of the same colour and blue eyes. He wears a knee-length brown cloak over a blue woolen tunic, and was fastened so that it appeared to be pleated. It was fastened by a fancy brooch. He was also wearing black loose waist pants with fitted lower legs, upper legs with more of a puffed and baggy design, secured with a string tie around the waist. On his hands he was wearing puppet characters, as expected from his talent.

"I see my puppets caught your eye. They're different from each side, so I can play four characters at once." He remarked with a smirk, showing me that both sides of the puppets are indeed entirely different. His left-hand puppet was a seemingly young girl with short black hair on one side and an elegantly dressed boy on the other. His right-hand puppet was a girl with long blonde hair and wide blue eyes and a shirtless, muscular guy with tanned skin.

"Anyway, I'd like to apologize for earlier as well. I was the one who shouted at you earlier. To be fair though, you did look like you were trouble" He said. I didn't know whether that was supposed to be a joke or not.

"Yes, you were way out of line! That's not how you speak to a lady!", Jaune said, mimicking a high-pitched feminine voice, moving the puppet on his right hand so it looked like the blonde girl was talking. "Si, Katya is rrright, yourrrr behaviourrr was intolerrrable! Watch me and learrrn! Hola, señorrrita! My name is Vittorrrio! I'm frrrom the Kingdom of Navarrra!" This time, after flipping the puppet to the muscular guy, he mimicked a voice of someone from the Iberian Peninsula, rolling every 'r' he could find in a sentence. "I-I-I'm s-s-sure he didn't m-mean it, th-though. D-don't hold it against him", said Jaune with a voice of a shy, stuttering girl, moving the puppet with short black hair. "Phi. Yes, keep on being gullible and trusting everybody you meet. I'm suuuure it won't turn out bad for you. I, Prince Sevastyan, won't save you from trouble you yourself will cause" Jaune said, this time with an exaggerated voice of a sarcastic and cynical guy. I smiled. "You're very good at this, Jaune" I complimented him. He bowed in front of me.

"Wait wait wait!", I heard a feminine voice behind me. "I was looking at this traveling cloak you wear and it's no mistake. You're THE Aya Fukui, aren't you?" I looked around and I saw a girl looking at me, her facial expression a mixture of disbelief and happiness. I wondered how she recognized me.

"That's correct. Do you know me?" I asked.

"Of course! Who doesn't? You're the crippled knight from the legend of Manor Vorona! Ooh, I'm so glad to have met you! My name is Amiletta Springett, but you may call me Amy! I'm the Elite Musician!"

* * *

 **AMILETTA "AMY" SPRINGETT**

 **ELITE MUSICIAN**

* * *

She wears a purple and red velvet top with what I later learned as her's family crest emblazoned on it, crimson red tights and a black shirt. Interestingly enough, her hair is orange. Her eyes are hazel and has a mole under her right one. She is off average build but she has a lot of abdominal fat which presses against her skirt and top. Of course, I'm not one to criticize one's weight. I'm just merely stating facts.

"I know all about you! I recognized you from the Voronin family crest you've got on your cloak! It's often mentioned in folk songs around Novoselic!" She exclaimed excitingly. I smiled and blushed slightly. I knew there were songs about me, I was really honored, but they weren't always completely truthful, sometimes calling me a knight. I'm no knight, that's for sure!

"Oh, I've heard of this legend as well", Jaune said. "I believe I satirized it in one of my performances. It is nice to meet _the crippled knight_ though", Jaune said, exaggarating his tone at the words "the crippled knight".

"I know you from folk songs too, my lady", I heard someone saying. It was a boy. "I am Ren Gishi, Elite Lute Player. Pleased to be your acquaintance"

* * *

 **REN GISHI**

 **ELITE LUTE PLAYER**

* * *

He had short black hair and wore a tan tunic with a green vest with a belt around his stomach and black barnabas jackboots. Interestingly enough, he wore a black blindfold around his eyes, which gave a strong indication that he was, in fact, blind. _Mikhail was blind too. He's going to remind me a lot of him, that's for sure..._

"Ren is blind if you're wondering", Amy whispered. Well, yes, I understood that much.

"Indeed, I was born with no ability to see, but my other senses are as sharp as a knight's sword" He said, smiling.

"Ah, I still can't get over the fact that I've met the crippled knight! I hoped they would be a man, though..." I heard Amy mutter to herself.

Next in line was a very interesting-looking girl, for she was carrying a bow on her back. She approached me, her moves seemed uncertain and shaky.

"Hello. My name is Katyusha Alexei. I'm an Elite Archer. I...hope we can get along."

* * *

 **KATYUSHA ALEXEI**

 **ELITE ARCHER**

* * *

Katyusha had extremely pale skin and was very thin. Her hair was dark brown, almost black in fact, it was wavy that reached halfway down her back. Her eyes were pale blue. She wears a long, sky blue dress that laces up near the neck with a white chemise underneath, the top of which can be seen above the neckline of the dress. She has loose, hanging sleeves, and wears a brown belt with a pouch of supplies and quiver of arrows at her waist, as well as brown leather fingerless gloves. She also wears dark brown lace-up boots. She has a small strip of brown leather, almost like a shoelace, wrapped around her head like a headband. As I mentioned earlier, she carried a bow on her back.

"You can call me Katya if you want", she said with a shy smile.

"Very well then, Katya. You're an archer, hm? You don't serve in the military, do you?" I asked. Women couldn't become soldiers in the Novoselic Kingdom, but I wondered if Katya was an exception.

"N-No, of course not. I'm more of a hunter than a soldier. I sometimes came into town to sell anything I've caught." She replied, blushing slightly. I nodded. She didn't really seem like she wanted to talk to me anymore (which I sort of understood), so I moved on to another guy. He seemed sort of frustrated and his cheeks were red from anger.

"Finally! You took your sweet damn time! Ryōshi was expecting to be first you'll introduce yourself to! Anyway, this is Ryōshi Ketsueki, the Elite Executioner. Ryōshi is an elite in more aspects as well, though."

* * *

 **RYŌSHI KETSUEKI**

 **ELITE EXECUTIONER**

* * *

He had brown spiky short hair and green eyes with a scar over the left eyebrow and had prominent fangs. Although I I hate to admit that, he was pretty muscular. He wore a black leather vest with buckles across his chest, narrow dark red leather pants, a headband on his hand with a peacock feather sticking out of it, small knot earrings, two belts and sheet metal protectors over his wrists, elbows and joints.

"Elite...Executioner? You're not planning on executing us, are you?" I asked.

"Well, Ryōshi just might! Hahaha, just kidding. If you're all good to Ryōshi, there's a chance you won't all sniff flowers from below the ground! Hahahaha!" He said and laughed, but I didn't find his words particularly funny. He then started grinning viciously. "Well, shoo now. Ryōshi doesn't wanna talk anymore." He added with a gesture, letting me know that my time with him was over. Oh boy.

Next to last was a girl who seemed somewhat annoyed. I was wondering whether she was also offended at me introducing myself to her so late.

"Hello. Is there something troubling you?", I asked. She seemed to lighten up a little.

"Ugh, no. It's just that executioner fella who annoys me... just like all men really", she whispered to me. "I appreciate your concern, though. I am Arare Beika, Elite Baker. Nothing unusual, but it's always something."

* * *

 **ARARE BEIKA**

 **ELITE BAKER**

* * *

She has shoulder-length light brown hair with blunt bangs and some of her hair braided as a headband. She has light tanned skin and a round face. She wore a white smock dress with gray sideless kirtle, both under-knee-length. She also wears brown belt and brown gladiator sandals.

"Elite Baker is not a bad talent, don't beat yourself up." I said in attempt of cheering her up. She smiled, but it seemed fake.

"Thanks, Aya, but it really is nothing spectacular. I like my job though. There's something amazing about seeing people enjoy your food. I, myself, prefer fruits and vegetables, though. They're more healthy and besides, they're sweet too" She said with passion in her voice. "Anyway, you should introduce yourself to Yasushi. He's still waiting."

I looked at the man who wore a hood. He seemed to have a really mysterious aura about him. I almost felt scared approaching him, but I did. I wanted to end this series of awkward introductions and restart my investigation. He had his arms crossed on his chest and I think I saw a smile from under the hood.

"Heh. Hello there. I'm Yasushi Kakoji. Elite Spy. Nice to meet you"

* * *

 **YASUSHI KAKOJI**

 **ELITE SPY**

* * *

I couldn't really say much about his appearance. He wore dark green robes with a huge hood which covered his entire head. I could see a bit of his face from under the hood, though. I saw short, scruffy brown hair and blue eyes. I believe he also had a tan skin, though it could've been shadows playing tricks on me. He also wore a scarf around his neck, black gloves and black high boots. Not much could be said about him.

"Can I ask you a question?" Yasushi asked suddenly, catching me off guard. He put his hand on his chin and stroked it. I nodded. "Did you lose consciousness after entering the castle and woke up in a bed?" His question surprised me. _How did he know that?_ "Y-Yes", I answered shakily. He smiled.

"You're like the rest of us, then" Wren said. "We, too, lost consciousness after entering the castle. Hmm. What could this mean?" He crossed his arms on his chest. Seiji seemed like he wanted to speak up.

"Furthermore", the samurai began, "The entrance gate of the castle is closed. I tried hard to open it, but it didn't budge. Seems like we're stuck in here" Seiji's words surprised me. It seems we were secluded from the outside. I didn't find this situation particularly new, myself, so I didn't have any problems with it. I could tell the other Elites were terrified, though.

"What?!" Jauce yelled. "We're stuck in this place?! I can't accept that!"

"H-Hey, please calm down everybody" Kinsey said, reaching out her hand in a gesture to stop. "This castle is rather nice. Maybe we could try to make the best out of our lives here."

"What is this blasphemy you're spewing?!" Spartak screamed loudly. "I cannot stay in this wretched place, for it is a center of religion based on hate against demons! I _DEMAND_ you let me go!"

"Get off my back, you red-eyed freak!" Kinsey yelled back. Spartak's cheeks reddened from anger and said something, but I stopped listening at this point. After a while, a few more people joined the argument and their screams were further escalated by the echo in the throne room. I stayed out of it, of course. I stood back and watched. I sighed and shook my head. I felt like living here will be the end of me. I saw a few people that I liked and could be acquaintances with. I wondered what it was all about, though. Why were we locked inside the castle? Why was there nobody else but us? At this point, I had more questions than answers.

 _Puhuhuhuhu~!_

Their argument was quickly silenced when we heard a high-pitched laughter coming out from the direction of the throne. We all turned our heads at the throne in unison. What we saw was something that couldn't be explained by logic or reason.

We saw...a black-and-white bear wearing a red cape and a crown, sitting on the throne.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: That would be be the end of Part 1 of the Prologue! Let me know if I got all personalities right so far!**_


End file.
